Casey Anthony's defense brings in high-powered team

Headllines in the orlando sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-caylee1308dec13,0,7376977.story

Casey Anthony's defense brings in high-powered team

Sarah Lundy | Bianca Prieto and Willoughby Mariano, Sentinel Staff Writers
December 13, 2008
There's a star New York City defense attorney with Hollywood connections; a best-selling mystery novelist who doubles as a forensic anthropologist; an expert who testified on the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. And a guy who knows bugs.

During an emergency hearing Friday in Orange Circuit Court, the defense for Casey Anthony, the 22-year-old mother suspected of killing her toddler daughter, unveiled a team that read like a cast of characters from a legal thriller.

They join other high-profile names such as criminalist Henry Lee -- made famous by the O.J. Simpson trial -- and Dr. Larry Kobilinsky, a forensic scientist, who is a regular on CNN's Nancy Grace.

Lead counsel Jos� Baez is playing to win, his spokesman Todd Black said.

"As you can see, he's been putting together a tremendous team," Black said.

The hearing was called after a meter reader discovered the bones Thursday of a child who may be Caylee Marie Anthony. The remains lay a quarter-mile from the east Orange County home the girl shared with her mother and grandparents.

Orange County deputy sheriffs did not confirm the remains are those of Caylee, but New York attorney Linda Kenney Baden, who represented music impresario Phil Spector in his murder trial last year, said in court Friday that Baez was told the measurements of the bones and the color of hair discovered match those of Caylee.

Caylee's mother and grandparents have maintained since the July 15 report of her disappearance that the girl is alive.


Boxes sent to FBI in Virginia

The legal jostling took place as Orange County deputy sheriffs sifted through dirt near where the bones were found, looking for evidence that might tell them how the child died. The child's skull was found wrapped in duct tape, and other items were found in the bag, a source told the Orlando Sentinel.

The bones are now at the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's Office. Casey Anthony remains in Orange County Jail without bail on first-degree-murder and other charges.

Deputies left the Anthony home early Friday with boxes and several paper bags of evidence that will be used by FBI officials in Virginia. Lab technicians will compare the items with evidence found at the scene where the body was discovered, Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary said. He would not say what was seized from the Anthony home or collected with the remains.

Investigators likely searched the home looking for duct tape or a plastic bag similar to what was found with the body, said Richard Weinblatt, manager of the criminal-justice program at Seminole Community College.

Duct tape can pick up evidence such as carpet fibers, soil and fingerprints.

If these clues link the body with evidence gathered from the home or from the trunk of Casey Anthony's car, where tests showed signs of a decomposing body, the find could be a boon to prosecutors, Weinblatt said.

But if authorities cannot determine how long the body was in the woods, all bets are off, Weinblatt said. The defense could argue the body was placed in the woods while Casey Anthony was in jail.

"The main question is, 'Where has the body been?' " he said.


Little hope left

Hours after police left the Anthony home Friday, Caylee's grandparents Cindy and George Anthony arrived, then left with luggage and their two dogs. Their attorney, Brad Conway, said they are still trying to cope with news of the discovery and are unlikely to return home this weekend. He did not reveal where they were staying.

"They continue to pray this is not Caylee, but everyone is realistic in their expectations," Conway said.
Hope is fading among Anthony family supporters. The Kid Finders Network, which has been searching for Caylee, suspended efforts Friday "due to recent developments," according to a news release.

The grandparents' former attorney Mark NeJame, who defended his clients' belief Caylee was alive, acknowledged he feared that she was dead.

"It's more than a hunch," NeJame said. "I have had an opinion for a long time."

And in a two-minute tape of a call to emergency dispatchers released Friday, a male utility-company employee revealed that workers suspected immediately that the remains were related to Caylee:

"We found a human skull," the man said to the dispatcher.

"Oh, my gosh," she said.

The remains were found in the "Caylee Anthony area," he said.

Possible defense witnesses

During Friday's emergency hearing, Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland denied Baez's request to have defense experts present during the autopsy of the child's remains.

"At this point, it would do nothing but interfere with the obligations of the Medical Examiner's Office," the judge said.

Baden named several possible defense witnesses:

*Dr. Werner Spitz, a nationally known forensic pathologist who has worked on the O.J. Simpson and JonBen�t Ramsey cases.

*Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist who authored nearly a dozen mystery novels, including New York Times best-seller D�j� Dead.

There's also a forensic entomologist -- a scientist who studies bugs -- from Nebraska, Tim Huntington.

Who is paying for the star-studded defense lineup?

"I don't think it's any concern of anyone who is paying for all this," Baez said after the hearing.